Romain Attanasio should cross the finish line off Les Sables d'Olonne towards the end of the day, today Saturday in a moderate northerly wind and flat seas much as Jérémie Beyou had this Saturday morning.
For the group of six who are next in Arnaud Boissières, Kojiro Shiraishi, Stéphane Le Diraison, Pip Hare, Alan Roura and Didac Costa their final days on the race course are becoming less straightforward with a series of depressions arriving from the west. Right now the six are sailing in ahead of this rapidly moving front. The wind will shift to the North-West on Sunday as the front passes with heavy seas and squalls.
Then from Monday, a second depression will affect Didac Costa and then the other five competitors. The 35 knot wind with gusts to 45 knots will also generate rough seas with waves of up to eight or nine metres. Their objective will then be for the first to go fast to be in front of this second low pressure system. For those who can not keep up with the pace, a southern route will be necessary to avoid the strongest.
Manu Cousin, Clément Giraud and Miranda Merron are taking advantage of the eastward movement of the high pressure area which will allow them to sail a more direct course. Alexia Barrier and Ari Huusela are close reaching towards the doldrums in a NE’ly trade wind.